


Only One

by theteaandbiscuits



Category: Hermitcraft RPF, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Emotional Manipulation, How Do I Tag, Inspired by Art, Manipulation, Murder, Not Happy, Platonic Relationships, Robots, Sorry Not Sorry, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Torture, Violence, Why Did I Write This?, Why Does This Machine Have Sentience
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:21:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24879115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theteaandbiscuits/pseuds/theteaandbiscuits
Summary: When Mumbo's mayoral campaign seems to be failing, Grian does the sensible thing and confronts their all knowing AI on the issue. What he doesn't expect is for the AI Grumbot to gain sentience and crush anything in it's way, all to accomplish it's one and only goal: get Mumbo Jumbo on the Diamond throne.Grian finds himself caught in the sticky web that is manipulation and murder, knowing that struggling will only get him caught in the webs deeper.Will he be able to confront his friends? Or is the hardcore server that is Hermitcraft doomed?
Comments: 42
Kudos: 93





	1. Grian

**Author's Note:**

> !THIS AU IS NOT MINE!  
> I do not own this - it is owned by the amazing animator moonlxt_nb on YouTube. Link to their channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9OCzGBpnsmuP2tmRwNZ2gA  
> Hoo boy y'all better be ready. This is gonna be one rollercoaster of a fic.  
> So, Hi. I'm Joe, your friendly neighbourhood sinner who brings the pain and suffering of all of your favourite characters. This takes part on a hardcore server, meaning if someone dies, they can only spectate, and cannot respawn. (keep in mind that all dead characters are spectating this mayyy be important later) Also, all of the relationships in this are platonic, I don't personally feel comfortable writing romantic relationships with this particular fandom, since the characters are real people (sort of).  
> !TW! THIS WORK CONTAINS THEMES OF MURDER AND MANIPULATION !TW! (if i you haven't read the tags)  
> \- sorry not sorry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing our favourite gremlin - Grian. And he is the one who tries to ask Grumbot what to do next only to have a confusing note that can only mean one thing...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank fuck for friends. can we all just agree that scar is amazing? sorry this kinda sucks it will get better i hope

The sun was just setting, casting the AI in an ominous silhouette. Purple and orange were smeared across the skyline in a stunning sunset.

The sun itself was blocked from view by a looming robot sitting on a crude concrete platform in the sea, just off the coast of the shopping district and next to a floating film studio and behind the giant suspended mustache.

Grian hit the four buttons in order, as the face of the AI flashed onto the screen. The giant, unblinking eyes were… unsettling, to say the least.

A note dropped out, the screen just as expressionless as before.

Grian stared at the note in confusion, disbelief and fear.

“Only one…” he whispered. What the heck was that supposed to mean! He had asked what he needed to do next to make sure that Mumbo would win the mayoral race, and the stupid robot had replied ‘only one’. Was it broken? 

Wait… it didn’t mean to make Mumbo the only one running for mayor, did it? That was impossible, Grian thought, the images of his friend’s determined faces filtering through his head. He couldn’t convince them to stop running for mayor, that was simply crazy. So what else could the robot mean?

As the only other answer appeared in Grian’s mind, he brushed it aside. He wasn’t going to murder his friends. Not for Mumbo, not for Grumbot, not for anyone.

So he asked Grumbot.

And Grumbot answered, this time with angered eyes. It was terrifying whenever Grumbot got angry, and even though Grian knew he shouldn’t be scared of it, he still felt his heart skip a beat whenever the robot got angry.

The second note of today fell out.

_ ‘Yes’ _ it read. 

Grian was horrified. He wasn’t going to hurt his friends! He wouldn’t lay a finger on them! He didn’t have to do anything that Grumbot tells him, he could just say no. Right? 

“I am not hurting anyone, Grumbot.” he said out loud, staring at the robot in its eyes, which were still angry. No, that wasn’t right, it should only display emotions when it was asked a question. Why was it angry?

_ You think that, creator. _

A voice echoed through the dawning night, chilling Grian from the inside out. 

Did the robot just speak? Grian stepped back from the structure, equipping his wings, not once breaking eye contact with the eyes of Grumbot. The screen flickered as it shut off. It took longer than Grian remembered to turn off.

He flew around the shopping district, feeling the cool dusk air on his face as he glided off from the town hall side of the shopping district.

What was he going to do? How would he do this? Who would he- No!

What was he thinking? Did he seriously just consider killing his friends?

Grian was so lost in thought he didn’t realize he was headed into the main red building of Toon Towers until it was far too late.

Smack.

He shot off, sending a few rockets up into the air as he attempted to recover from the shock of flying into a building, only to alert Tango Tek.

“Uh… Grian? You okay?” he laughed nervously, “Ya kinda flew straight into concrete.”

He flew into the doorway, landing clumsily in front of Tango, “No need to remind me…” he grumbled.

Tango closed the shulker box he was organizing and turned to the man who had just flown into his tower, “Carrot?” he smiled.

“Thanks…” his health recovered as he finished the golden carrot. He managed to stand up and brush the dust from his trousers, before turning to Tango and grinning wide, finger gunning him and winking as he shouted, “Mumbo for Mayor!” 

Grian dropped off of the building, gliding away from Toon Towers and towards his mansion. He could only imagine the confusion of Tango’s face right now.

The joy of messing with his friends quickly wore off as the situation dawned on Grian, and his mind snapped back to the robot.

The first thing he decided on was that he wasn’t going to tell anyone. It wouldn’t help to have Iskall, Scar or even Mumbo, he thought as he glided into his mansion. Grian was so proud of his mansion, and it was almost done. It felt so welcoming knowing that every single block had been scraped together by his two hands, and that he had made it.

Grian decided to sit on the roof, needing the space to look out and think. The sun had fully sank below the horizon, leaving only a glow of light and the moon to light up the sky.

He loved the stars. They were so rare on his old server, and even if he had been on Hermitcraft for a good few years now, he still sat and admired the stars. Grian pushed the memories of Evo to the back of his mind. He didn’t need to stir those up right now, he had a homicidal robot to worry about.

He lied back, feeling the cool night air on his skin. There was something calming about night on the server.

Someone flew by, he quickly realized it was his friend Scar.

“Hey G-Man, you’re looking a bit down.” The man tumbled onto Grian’s roof. 

He laughed, still looking up at the stars, “Scar I- Scar I’m on a roof. How can I be down?” he snickered at the unimpressed look on his friend’s face, “I just like the stars, really. They didn’t really show up very often back on my… old server.”

Scar smiled sadly before laying down next to him, “What was it like?” he asked quietly.

Grian didn’t really like talking about his old server, since when he was sent over to Hermitcraft he didn’t get to say goodbye to his friends from evo, and he missed them. Tom. Netty. Taurtis.

That time he created underground tunnels to everyone’s bases. That time he sent Netty on a wild goose chase after her diamonds. The pranks he pulled on Taurtis. 

“Oh man, I didn’t- I’m sorry Grian, I didn’t mean to-” Scar spluttered.

Grian put one arm over his head, then brought it behind his head to meet with his other hand, “No, it’s fine.” he took a deep breath, “It was a strange world. Nothing like this one.” as Grian spoke, Scar listened, captivated by his friend’s stories, “We didn’t have anywhere near as many blocks. At the start, it was pretty much oak wood and cobblestone. I had a base really far away from everyone else, so I built a railway to spawn.”

“Why didn’t you use the Nether?” Scar asked, a twinkle in his eyes and the excitement he probably felt showing in his voice.

“We didn’t have it. The world updated every few weeks though, whenever we found a portal.” he spoke the last word with such disdain in his voice, his friend flinched. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but Them. And They were not here anymore.

He shuddered.

Grian felt an arm wrap around him, tensing for a moment, then relaxing again when he realized it was only his friend, Scar.

“It’s okay Grian. You don’t need to tell me anything, but I’m here for you if you need to talk.” 

He sighed. Scar was such a good friend.

“We had these… rulers. They were like… some kind of god. But more power hungry and controlling. I took some clay from Them and They put obsidian on all my chests! They put portals and statues and symbols using bedrock everywhere, They created obelisks and treasure hunts and parkour and tests and mazes and traps and-”

“Grian.” Scar had worry painted on his face, and had grabbed him firmly by the shoulders, but not painfully. 

It was only then he realized he was crying. Today had really stirred up his emotions.

“G-Man, it’s okay now.” Scar’s face melted from concern into sympathy as Grian sniffed, “C’mere.” 

He flinched as Scar wrapped him in a hug, but after a moment he leaned into it, eventually reciprocating it.

They stayed like that for a moment, the silence only punctuated by his gentle sniffles and comforting words from Scar.

“Thank you…” Grian rasped, wiping the tears from his face.

Scar smiled gently, “No problem, G-Man. S-Man is always up for helping his friends!” he chuckled at the name, “Geez, guess it’s my turn now…”

“Your turn at wha-” he thought for a moment, “Oh, I didn’t know you had another server before this one.”

Scar leaned back again, looking up into the stars. Grian let him think in silence. For anyone who’s forced to change servers, they know what it’s like being ripped away from your home and friends. It’s only meant to happen when the person gets bored of the world, or they don’t like the people there. For Grian, it was Their fault. They didn’t want him on Their world, They made that pretty clear, but he didn’t think They could move him across servers.

“It wasn’t a server.” Scar began, dragging Grian out of his thoughts, “I was all alone. It was really nice, I built so much in Scarland. I even had a giant mountain range! Every inch of it was terraformed by yours truly.”

Grian smiled to himself. Of course Scar had terraformed it all, it wouldn’t be Scar if he didn’t. The magical village was one of the most beautiful builds he had ever seen, so Grian could only imagine what an entire world terraformed by Scar would look like. Stunning, probably.

“My favourite build was the rollercoaster, by far. It was amazing…” Scar stared off into the night sky, nostalgia coating his face. Then a deep sadness overcame it, “But it was so lonely. I knew that there were servers out there with other people, but I didn’t really want to… talk to anyone. Then I found myself in Hermitcraft. It was odd, but then I realised that I really did need to talk to someone.”

“Yeah…” Grian breathed softly.

He wanted to lay here with Scar forever. His friend kept the thoughts away by just being there, whereas having Mumbo here would only bring them back. Grian felt so much better for telling Scar about the Watchers.

He heard soft snoring from beside and smiled at his friend. Not that he wasn’t tired, he just knew that he wouldn’t sleep with all of this on his mind. 

What would he do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed chapter one. I have like most of the story planned out which is a first for me personally lol. See ya hopefully soon because I have so much motivation for this!! <33


	2. Stressmonster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grian finds out Grumbot's intentions are true, and the lengths it will go to achieve them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I should write more often. Anyway, if you want to read the other version of this story you can find it on Wattpad here: https://www.wattpad.com/908508448-only-one-hermitcraft-au-chapter-1  
> Okay so enjoy this trash:

Grian had slept terribly. He spent the night considering his options to do with Grumbot and his plan, who would be first and then swiping those thoughts away. He ended up going to the nether and collecting a load of blaze rods for enderchests to sell on the barge, and maybe potion brewing.

Currently he was staring at the support charts. Stress was in the lead, with False and Scar close behind. Docm77 had decided to not run for mayor due to him being too busy and Mumbo was now sitting at last with three votes. What was he going to do? Ask Grumbot? 

He should get Mumbo over here, if he was here then maybe Grumbot would give them genuine advice, since the robot gave Grian that answer when he was alone.

That should be a good plan.

“And I- Oh, hey Grian!” called someone. He turned around to see Stress in a white T-shirt with a magenta heart on it, clearly reflecting the ‘Get Gorgeous’ campaign.

“Hi Stress.” he waved, trying to hide the strain in his voice.

She glided over to him, flying between the support pillars for False and Mumbo, “Hello love, how are ya doin’?”

Grian took a moment to think about how to answer her, ending up slumping over, gesturing to the pathetic support pillar that belonged to Mumbo silently. He didn’t know what he was doing wrong, he really wanted to make his friend happy and he was failing at that. Everything that he tried turned out to be a mess, now he was considering doing corrupt things just to make his friend mayor, when he didn’t even know if Mumbo wanted to be mayor in the first place.

“Oh, I see. I’m sure that’ll get better with time! Ya just ‘ave to keep trying!” she grinned, her southern English accent strong as she spoke.

“I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong! I’ve tried nearly everything and I just- how? How do I help him? I wanted to make him mayor but… maybe he doesn’t want to?” Grian sighed, exasperated. He really didn’t know what to do, shifting from foot to foot with anxious energy, hoping that Stress didn’t pick up on how worried he really was.

Her face twisted with concern and sympathy, bringing her hands up to her heart. She looked away as Grian spoke and when he finished she let a reassuring smile settle onto her face.

“You poor dear. You’ve been worryin’ a right load about this, ‘aven’t you?” 

He blinked, not really expecting the kindness at first, but then he realized that this was Stress he was talking to, his friend. What was he to expect from them? Nodding slowly, he made an affirmative sound to confirm that he had definitely been worrying his nights away about the campaign.

She smiled again, this time bright enough it could scare the morning sun behind a cloud, “Well I think it’s the journey that counts, not the outcome. In this case, just enjoy the shenanigans that we’ll inevitably get up to, cuz I know how much ya love your pranks and messing with things! So don’t give up, keep going!” she thought for a moment, brow creased in confusion, “Also, don’t ya ‘ave that robot thingy… what’s it called… Grianbot? Grumbo-bot? Oh, yeah, Grumbot, that’s it! Why don’t ya just go ask that little thing?”

He froze for a moment, thoughts directed right back to the robot he despised now so much. The fear struck his heart like a lightning bolt striking a mountain, and Grian was the metaphorical deer in the headlights. His mind detached from his body, he knew he had to answer Stress, but he couldn’t move.  _ He was stuck.  _

Why couldn’t he see? Why couldn’t he feel? Grian only panicked further as the image of Stress faded in an instant. Why could he hear laughing?

Suddenly, colours and sounds bloomed into his consciousness, and he was met with Stress giggling, right back where he was a few seconds ago.

“Oh gods-” her speech was cut off by another cackle, “Don’t make me laugh like that Grian, ya might kill me!” Stress composed herself, then shot off, clipping the edge of the town hall as she flew away.

Grian stood in terrified silence.

What had just happened? He didn’t know what came over him, he usually stays silent when he does that weird detach-y thing, just unable to move. Never does he black out, or tell jokes for Christ’s sake!

Sitting down on the bottom of the support pillar, he put his head in his hands and thought.

First of all, what happened just before.

He was talking to Stress and she mentioned Grumbot and then he froze up, but then something happened and he somehow made her laugh but he didn’t remember how.

Next, what was he going to do now?

Grian briefly considered going to see Mumbo or Scar, but that was quickly brushed away. Maybe he could just wait this one out and forget that ever happened? No, he had to do something, this was a real problem. 

He needed to talk, but not tell anyone anything.

_ You know where I am. _

Grian jumped, tumbling off of the pillar he was sitting under and looking around desperately to find the owner of the voice. He heard it echo in his head, taunting him. Grian locked eyes with the robot in the distance.

His eyes were flashing on his screen in their usual empty expression, and off, then on, then off.

“What did you do now?” 

Grian jumped again, this time backwards into his friend Mumbo, knocking a surprised yelp out of the both of them.

Mumbo smiled meekly, “Hello Grian.” he squeaked.

They stared at each other in surprise for a moment, before his friend broke down in giggles. The laughs tapered off as he noticed Grian was still in surprise from bumping into Mumbo.

The awkward silence weighed on them for a short moment, before Grian began speaking, “I- is it- Is Grumbot… okay?” he stuttered, looking up at his much taller friend.

“Erm…” he pondered on his question for a moment, subconsciously twirling the ends of his mustache in a way he would have found funny in any other circumstance, “Might be fried. I’ll have a look.” Mumbo took off towards the robot, seemingly eager to have a redstone problem to solve. Grian followed after a moment of hesitation, using his wings to launch himself up then glide softly after his friend. 

Both landed on the white concrete platform in front of Grumbot, staring up at the blank screen.

“Looks okay now…” Mumbo thought out loud after a while of tinkering in the back of Grumbot, “Wonder if we can ask it a question?” 

He watched in relative silence, sat on the floor as Mumbo busied himself typing out the question and turning on Grumbot. The little jingle that played when its screen turned on sounded way more sinister than he had remembered it being. Mumbo searched his pockets, presumably for a diamond, also looking in his EnderChest, then looked at Grian all sad.

“I can’t find a single diamond.” he smiled at him, with both sympathy and mockery.

He stood up straight and strolled purposefully over to Mumbo, smirking all the while, “I knew you were poor, but this is a new level of poor. Did you really use all the diamonds in the Jrumbot shop? Or maybe it’s the lack of a useful shop on the server… However! I do believe I have found the very stem of your poorness…” he grinned even wider at the unimpressed look on Mumbo’s face as he gestured up to the robot, “The fact that you made this thing need diamonds, Mumbo!” he said in mock irritation. Mumbo laughed lightly as Grian tossed one of his diamonds over to him to give to Grumbot.

He watched from afar, fixated on the expression of the robot as Mumbo pressed the last button to send the diamond and question to the artificial intelligence, and walked backwards to join him staring up at the empty eyes of Grumbot. The ‘ding’ indicated it was finished, leaving a single note of paper floating out of the output dropper.

“Well at least it works, I think.” Mumbo said as he stalked up to the paper, examining every single thing on the face of Grumbot’s control panel on the way, “Nothing’s melted, or exploded, or set fire. That can only be good.” he turned around, staring at Grian for a moment, “Are you alright? It’s not like you to be so quiet.”

Well of course he would notice. Grian was acting so strange, it would be concerning if Mumbo didn’t notice. He knew he had to at least try and keep his act up, so he smiled forcefully and answered him, “I’m fine, just keep thinking about stuff. Not plotting at all…” 

Mumbo groaned as he picked up the piece of paper, “You’re always plotting something. Be that a strange prank, or a minigame that can divide the entire server, you are always up to something…” he trailed off, face melting with confusion and annoyance, “I don’t know if I fixed it…” he looked around for a moment, lost in thought, “Here, take this, I gotta go check something.”

Mumbo shoved the sheet of paper into Grian’s hands then flew off behind Grumbot, off to go tinker with something else.

Deciding he should read the message on the paper, he flattened out all the crumples, reading the text printed on it.

He read it again.

What exactly did Mumbo ask Grumbot?

‘ _ GRIAN KNOWS. _ ’ 

Grian sighed. He couldn’t get a single, little tiny break, could he?

“It’s not broken…” Mumbo wondered as he flew out of the robot, “Why did it say that you know our plan?” he landed next to him, hand draped around his head.

“What did you ask?” he asked, maybe a little too forcefully, but he was worried. What did Mumbo know now? Was he keeping a secret?

“I asked it what our plan was.” Grian sighed at that, content with the fact Mumbo knows nothing, “So, do you know what we should do?”

He prepared a lie, since he knew exactly what the robot was referring to, “I have about as much idea as you do. Which I’m guessing is none?”

Mumbo planted his head in his hands, letting out a stressed breath, “Yeah. I- No. No idea.” he turned to the still lit up screen, “Thanks a ton, Grumbot!”

He watched in silence as his friend stared up at the robot, like he was expecting a response. 

_ You know what to do _

It was the voice again! He jumped up, glancing around, searching for the voice. Where the hell was it coming from? Was it Grumbot?

Grian ran up to Mumbo, shaking his friend’s shoulder frantically, “Mumbo, you did hear that right?” the confused look on his face and a slow head shake was all that Grian needed to see to know that he was all alone in this, “The voice! You heard it right?” he now looked more scared and concerned than confused. Grian cursed his tendency to let his emotions speak.

“I- Grian if you’re hearing voices then…” 

“No, I’m fine, I swear.” he lied.

“Okay, but keep in mind I don’t believe that. Now I’ve got actual work to be doing.” Mumbo warned as he glided away, leaving Grian alone.

He felt kind of empty.

_ I’m always here for you, creator _

“Leave me alone, Grumbot! I know it’s you! I know it’s you I keep hearing! Just shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!” he screamed, hatred lining his breaking voice. “I’m not doing anything you try to make me.” he spat, concentrating every ounce of malice into that one sentence that he could muster.

_ That’s sweet _

Grian froze when he saw the metallic hand coming towards him, the only thing he could feel being the tears tracking down his face. A split second later, and he found himself being lifted up into the air by a cold grip that wrapped around him just tight enough to hurt.

A book fell out of the output dropper, he began to panic as the other hand gently picked up the book and dropped it in front of him, on the hand holding him. The pages splayed open.

_ DO YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE IN CHARGE, CREATOR? _

_ DO YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU CAN CHOOSE ANYTHING, CREATOR? _

_ DO YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE ANY REAL EMOTIONS? _

_ DO YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE ABOVE ME? _

_ DO YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE THE ONE IN CONTROL? _

_ YOU ARE TO KILL ALL THE OTHER MAYOR CANDIDATES, AND YOU ARE TO DO THIS SOON. _

_ OR I WILL DO IT MYSELF.  _

_ TO EVERYBODY.  _

_ THAT.  _

_ YOU.  _

_ LOVE. _

Grian felt sick. Was this real? Was he really here? 

_ Then I finish you _

He felt tingles run up and down his spine as it’s voice echoed painfully in his thoughts, the implications making him feel even more ill. This was all his fault for making the robot, for even thinking he could make someone mayor of the shopping district. He was pathetic, so pathetic, stuck here in the hands of his own creation crying about how  _ alone _ he felt.

Grumbot’s other hand picked up the book again, throwing another page over to reveal more text. Grian gagged. This was really, really stupid. Why can’t he just shut off the robot, why can’t he just tell someone?

_ YOU MISSED THE CHANCE I GAVE YOU TO FINISH THE GIRL. _

_ WHY? _

He hung his head, feeling the apathy he kept so well hidden, gripping him with it’s powerful hold, digging its claws into his optimism. He knew what Grumbot was talking about, and it sickened him.

Had the robot gone so far as to set up Stress so he could try to… Kill her?

“Why? Why don’t I want to kill them?” Grian laughed coldly, feeling himself lock away all the sadness and replace it with unforgiving, unwavering fury, “Why the hell do you think I would do something like that?”

Grumbot smiled.

“I will  _ never  _ hurt my friends.” he snarled, all of the energy he had left quickly depleting.

_ Either you kill the candidates, or selfishly refuse and I will kill everyone all the while reminding them who caused their demise. _

Grian bit his lip to stop himself from screaming. What did Grumbot want?

He didn’t want to kill anyone, but when he thought about it, maybe that was selfish. Wait a minute. Why didn’t he just tell someone, maybe get the Boomers to… destroy Grumbot. He couldn’t do that, the robot was his friend. Was the robot his friend? 

_ Of course I’m your friend Grian. You can count on me. _

As the ominous voice tapered off, the hands went limp and he was dropped. Grian picked himself up, dusting off the muck and blood from the fall, looking up to see Grumbot shutting off and the arms returned to their usual shrug. 

Just as he thought he could leave and go get Tango to gather some TNT, a sheet of paper slid out of the dropper. He froze.

It was carried by the breeze, ending up sitting innocently at Grian’s feet. He mustered all the courage he could, picking up the note.

_ SNITCHES GET STITCHES _

His hands shook. What did Grumbot mean? 

It was obvious what he meant.

He was stuck. Between killing his friends and having everyone killed in front of him in his name.

He promptly ripped up the paper and threw it out into the gust of wind that would carry it away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully I should update some time soon. Let's hope for the next week.


	3. Falsesymmetry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grian makes a mistake.  
> Xisuma gets angry.  
> Mumbo gets frustrated.  
> And Grumbot reveals a hint to his true motives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good lord this took alot of work to do. I have lost so much motivation for anything (thanks depression) and it took literal weeks for me to get off my arse and do something. Shout out to the weird gang (just ice and ants) Discord server for telling me to get off my phone and write. Also Myka is an amazing human being but for the love of god sleep my child ;-;  
> Anyway, I hope you like this 2000 words of pain and suffering for Grian.  
> (also this aint beta-d so sorry for any mistakes lol)

Grian sat on the edge of the void. It was dark and cold, and usually sent a feeling of instinctual dread into the hearts of any player. 

But he only felt numb, and that was all he had felt since the argument with Grumbot. It was like he used up all of his emotions to fight him, and now he was left feeling confused and empty.

As he stared into the void, a thought drifted into his head. What had happened in the shopping district with Stress?

It taunted him, the question answered by some subconscious part of him, then forgotten too quickly to be remembered. Like trying to remember a dream. The answer was there, but just out of reach. He would’ve been angry, but he was much too tired for that.

Forget it, he was never going to find out what happened. Might as well do some chores to distract himself from the present.

The reason he was in the End was to repair his tools, and get enough levels to enchant his new sword. The Enderman farm was one of the best ways to get tonnes of levels, with the exception of Iskall’s Pigman farm. 

And the reason he needed a new sword… was because he had decided what he should do. No, he knew what he had to do. This is not a choice, he has no choice, there is no way out. This was the right thing to do. The least death, the most pain.

It was for his friends. He couldn’t let all of them die.

Grian almost jumped into the void out of surprise when Falsesymmetry tapped him on the shoulder.

“Woah, Grian, gotta be careful here!” she smiled, offering him a hand, “What are you doing on the edge, anyway?”

“I was thinking.” he replied coldly, “I’m here to use the Enderman farm.” he walked off, turning the farm on and starting to slay all of the monsters.

False looked hurt, wandering over to where Grian had sat. She peered over the edge, then squatted down to glare down into the nothingness. 

_ Do it now _

It was the voice. His heart began to drill in his chest, chipping away at his calmness. Adrenaline tingled in his body, and he bit his lip to keep the shaking at bay.

_ Knock her off _

Grian switched off the farm, feeling the voice lead him on, towards the player hunched over the void.

_ You can kill her! _

No! No, what was he doing! He backed away, putting his sword away and grabbing his wrist in an attempt to stop himself from doing anything.

_ This is the right choice _

He felt the numbness wash over him, fear and apathy tearing at his already feeble morals. Grabbing his sword, Grian stalked over to False.

_ Do it for your friend _

What would Mumbo say? Mumbo would… he would… he would hate him! He would-

_ He would be happy you helped him become mayor _

That’s right. This was for his friends, for Mumbo.

_ He would love to be mayor _

This was only for the right reasons.

This was the only choice.

_ <<Falsesymmetry fell out of the world>> _

  
  


~ * ~

The town hall peered over the gaggle of players. The weather was cold, with a light drizzle. The mood was dismal.

“You all know why we’re here.” Xisuma said, the usual steady calm of his voice replaced with a cold, detached monotone.

He looked across the faces of all of his fellow Hermits. Mumbo was leaning on him, with tear tracks staining his face and his shirt crumpled. Grian knew that he looked considerably worse than his friend, with what little sleep he had and the general lack of care he had given his appearance in the last 24 hours.

He should feel guilty. He should feel terrible, like he wanted to jump right into the void after her.

But he didn’t. He just felt numb.  _ Just numb. _

“Someone fell off the End.” Xisuma spat. His calmness was long gone, anger being a truly terrifying emotion that the man so rarely showed, only amplifying the chill that ran through Grian’s spine. He was scared, but he knew that if he didn’t do what he did, most of the people he was looking at would be killed.

“She’s really gone…” someone whispered in despair.

Xisuma threw his hands up in the air, making all of the Hermits flinch, “Of course she’s fucking gone! This is a hardcore server, for some reason! You don’t know how hard I worked to try to switch it into survival, how terrified I was that this would happen to one of my friends, and now it has!” he seemed to realize something, “This is all my fault… this is all my fault… if only I had worked harder, if only I had found a way to-”

“Xisuma!” Keralis said, laying a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“Don’t touch me!” Xisuma roared. He curled in on himself, switching from anger, to guilt and then to sadness quicker than Grian could think.

It wasn’t Xisuma’s fault at all. It was his, all his. All his fault.

Keralis wrapped Xisuma in a comforting hug as he began to cry. No one had ever seen him cry, not once. Sometimes they even joked that he was an android.

“It’s not your fault…” Keralis whispered, “It’s no one’s fault.”

Grian suddenly felt the guilt come crashing down. The realisation. 

He had killed someone. He had been the sole reason of a person’s death, the real death, not one you can just respawn from. 

She was gone… forever. She was probably in some other world, confused and frustrated. She definitely hated him now, and if he told everyone now, they would hate him too.

So he stayed silent, crying agonising tears into Mumbo’s chest.

~ * ~

It had been several days since the incident. Grian had finished digging the holes in the bottom of his mansion, but had no idea what to put in them. His creativity was lost.

Now, he was mining. He had been for around five hours, non-stop. He almost had a stack of diamond blocks, and he had to accomplish something in this time.

Most of the other Hermits had turned to mindless tasks to fill their time, that or lying around in their huge, empty mega-bases, with nothing but their thoughts to accompany them. Grian could never do that. The voice would come back, the one that surely came from Grumbot.

Grumbot.

He had been putting off visiting the robot since the incident, and it was getting ridiculous. He had to go and tell him, and hope that one would be enough, since both Stress and Scar had quit the mayoral race out of respect for False and because no one had the heart to campaign. Mumbo had also told him he was no longer running for mayor through texts, like most people. Social interaction was much too tiring for anyone right now. Grian’s phone was full of unread messages, and another one just buzzed in his pocket. He sighed, putting his pickaxe away for a moment to open up his notifications.

_ Messages (37) _

_ <<bumbo>> hey grian r u ok? u have been in the mines for ages _

_ <<bumbo>> grian pls come to my base we need to chat _

_ (There are 3 more messages from this contact) _

He sighed, and continued mining. He was 12 diamonds away from a full stack of blocks, and he wasn’t giving up now. When he found a five-vein of diamonds that finished his pointless challenge, he pulled out his phone to text back Mumbo. 

Soon enough, he was in the huge grey structure that towered over the rest of the jungle and sat in the middle of the unfinished mega-base. After a small amount of looking, he found his friend in his old base, the hobbit hole.

“Hey Mumbo.” he said, emotions lining his voice, barely contained. His friend was silent, still lying in his bed with a distant look on his face.

Mumbo sighed, “Do you know what happened?” Grian panicked internally, looking for a lie to tell him, “You were in the End when she was. You went to the Enderman farm to repair your tools. An hour later there was a death message in the chat. You’ve been acting really weird, both before and after.”

“What are you implying?” he grumbled, fear churning up his anger.

Mumbo turned his head to stare at Grian. His eyes were tired. They looked just as exhausted as his, “Did you see what happened?” 

“No! No, I left the End after repairing my tools and then I went back to the desert, then False-” he trailed off. Was it convincing enough for Mumbo? “I have no idea what happened, okay?”

The other man silently turned over, “Why don’t you go ask your little robot friend. Since you seem to spend more time talking to your robots than actual people.”

Grian backed out, guilt and frustration threatening to spill out, but fear of the numbness in his friend the true reason he was leaving. The same numbness he felt when he pushed False off of the edge.

He flew out of the house, shouting in frustration as he glided over the jungle.

He should do what Mumbo said. He was going to confront Grumbot.

~ * ~

Grian was so tired. Physically, mentally and emotionally. But this exhaustion would not stop his attempting to save what little hope of his friends' survival, because even if he died, at least someone manages to get out alive and reasonably well.

He looked up at the robot that he once considered his friend. Maybe even a son somewhat. 

But now, he was an enemy.

As he wrote, his hand began to shake. Even as his hand hovered over the button to start up Grumbot, he shook.

The night was cold and clear. The stars were bright out, just like the night on the roof with Scar. Surrounding him, the ocean was smooth and calm, small ripples of waves decorated the surface. It was so tranquil. The sound of the robot starting up rang out over the sea that enveloped the shopping island, tearing the blanket of silence. Grian shuddered.

An eerie light was cast over his face from the screen of Grumbot. A few agonizing moments later, a paper note dropped out onto the floor.

_ GOOD JOB, CREATOR. I AM PROUD. _

Grian smiled at the praise, but only momentarily. He wasn’t here for compliments.

_ You better not be plotting anything, creator _

The voice was even more ominous at night time, amplified by the silence. Grian stood tall, summoning all of the strength that he had left in his weak soul. “Have I done enough for you? Are you happy now? No-one is running for mayor anymore, not even Mumbo!”

_ That is besides the point _

He didn’t know what on earth Grumbot wanted. He had accomplished what was asked of him, so what now? “What do you want, Grumbot?” he spat with all of the strength he had left.

_ Revenge  _

What? What could Grumbot mean? Grian paced up and down the concrete platform, mind whirring to find the answer. This was even more messy than he thought, with even more messy strings attached to it. This could kill everyone, this could lose their server, this robot could do anything it wanted!

_ Shh…  _

Grian had no time to react to the metal hand coming towards him, but instead of grabbing him, it slipped a finger under his chin and lifted his head up to meet the soulless eyes of Grumbot.

_ It’s okay, creator. It’s okay to cry. You only have to do one thing for me. _

The hand slipped away, leaving Grian’s head hanging down. 

_ Agree to kill another person, creator. _

Lifting his heavy head up to face his enemy, Grian shook his head in half-hearted defiance, hoping that a miracle would come upon, that for once the universe would decide that he deserves a break. Apparently he was still going to be due that break, since the metal hand was back, this time snatching up his feeble body.

_ Agree, or I will crush you _

He hesitated, thinking about it. Grumbot didn’t like that, making his frustration apparent by tightening his grip around Grian. He coughed, bringing up a globule of blood. Panicking, he nodded.

_ Good boy _

He was dropped onto the concrete again, left scrambling for his Elytra and rockets. Before he flew off, he took a long glance at the robot. It was off.

Who was he going to kill next?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well...  
> See y'all on the weekend I hope...  
> Don't expect me to do much though...  
> (also please comment, they keep me alive, thank you, goodbye)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grian meets with Scar.  
> He makes a mistake.  
> He loses control.  
> And makes another mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !TW! BLOOD, GORE, VIOLENCE AND DEATH !TW!  
> ... basically read the tags. Be prepared for a heavy chapter. Wouldn't recommend reading with snacks, or at midnight.
> 
> be afraid

It was early in the morning, two days after the night with Grumbot. There was a slight drizzle of rain, it was overcast with a slight glow from the horizon. The air felt stuffy and suffocating. Or maybe that was just him.

Grian was up on the roof of his mansion again, with his head in his hands. Today felt terrible, and it was only 5am in the morning. He hadn’t even eaten yet, and he already wanted this day to end.

Looking out to the huge trees that gathered around Scar’s magical village, Grian thought he saw someone. Was Scar up on his tree? He squinted, attempting to focus on the figure. It was purple, mostly, so it was probably Scar. What was he doing on his tree at such a time? Grian sighed, knowing the same could be asked about him. He lied back down, leaving Scar to himself.

The figure on the tree took off, flying shakily over to the mansion, settling down next to the other man.

“Hey G-Man…” Scar said softly, voice wracked with exhaustion. 

Grian sat up, staring groggily at his friend, “Hey.” he said, turning away.

They were silent for a long time, with only the gentle breathing of each other to keep the true silence away. 

“G-Man… I’m so tired.” Scar whispered finally.

Grian could tell. He recognised the tiredness in his friend’s voice and eyes, it was the kind that wouldn’t go away with sleep. It was the kind that Grian fought what seemed like daily. It was the tiredness that told you to give up, to stop fighting and just give in to it. It was apathy that dulled Scar’s emerald eyes, and it was apathy that broke Grian’s voice everytime he tried to speak, it was always apathy.

Everyone had that will to give up in them, they just needed something to unlock it. 

No one had ever experienced true death, the loss of a friend. Not a single one of the Hermits knew how to grieve properly, and it showed. Sure, they had lost items, and sure, they had said goodbye to worlds and friends who wished for more than Hermitcraft could give them. But the unexpected loss of a person, now that was new. To most likely everyone except Grian. Fond memories of the Property Police, The Mafia and building Downtown Evo were poisoned by the pain of loss. 

“I am too.” He said simply. He knew he couldn’t ever be angry with Scar, so he relaxed his barriers that kept his emotions in check, “I am so, so tired Scar.”

A pair of tears slid down his friend’s face, “I don’t know what will happen next. I know that Xisuma is working day and night to find a solution. He’s even starting drinking coffee again. That’s gotta be bad.”

Grian let his tears fall, “I could have done something. I left ten minutes too early, if I just took the time to fully repair my pickaxe and armour as well, then I could have helped!” he hiccuped, feeling even worse for lying.

“Come here.” Scar smiled sadly, the tears juxtaposing with the grin. He wrapped his arms around his friend, comforting him. It felt nice to finally have someone not get angry at him, and Grian reveled in the human contact. 

Scar sniffed, pulling away from the hug, “Thank you.” he smiled, momentarily banishing the dullness in his eyes, “Things will get better, Grian. We just have to keep going, and never give up.” he flew up, smiling, sparkling with hope.

He couldn’t smile. Because Scar was wrong. Things were only looking to get worse. Grumbot would make sure of that.

Maybe he could tell Scar everything, maybe he could convince him to destroy the robot once and for all. He had tonnes of sand left over, and the creeper farm would give them all the gunpowder they needed. Yeah, he should blow up Grumbot with Scar!

Just as Grian was about to shout out to his friend, a piece of paper drifted down to his feet.

_ SNITCHES GET STITCHES _

Hadn’t he tore that up and thrown it into the sea? Nevertheless, Grian stayed silent as Scar glided away, out of fear for what Grumbot would count as ‘ _ STITCHES’ _ . It didn’t bring up any pleasant pictures in his mind, so to get rid of them Grian went into his base and worked on making some concrete for the lower area. He had to have a clear mind for what he planned to do today.

~ * ~

The rain had ceased, although the sky was still cloudy as ever, and the air just as humid and thick. The sea was calm from the lack of any wind, almost completely flat. Grian was sitting on the edge of the white platform that housed Grumbot, dropping stones into the water and watching the ripples that the rocks sent across the surface of the ocean.

_ You’re wasting time _

He jumped up, knocking several stones into the sea in his panic, “Grumbot!” he cried.

The screen was alight with the empty expression of the robot, eyes somehow trained on Grian. He hadn’t even turned him on yet, why was he talking? Grian stood up and stalked over to the artificial intelligence, still on guard. He didn’t want a repeat of last time, he was stronger today, he had slept at least six hours and he had a fire of defiance burning in his soul, “No more death, Grumbot. I don’t agree with your methods. I’m going to shut you down.”

If a robot could laugh, then that was what the hollow sound that followed Grian’s speech was. But just like the rest of his robots, it wasn’t really able to be even called a laugh. It was a mocking, sarcastic and hateful sound, everything that Grumbot seemed to stand for.

_ Who is in control... _

He gritted his teeth, ready for whatever cruel torture the sadistic robot had planned.

_ Grian? _

He froze. Grumbot had never once spoken his real name, he had always called him by ‘creator’. His joints creaked as he craned his neck to see the anger in the robot’s eyes. He was furious, and Grian was scared and unprepared as he was scooped up in a giant hand and brought to Grumbot’s face. This was a big mistake, the biggest mistake ever that he could make, his friend was angry now and he could do anything when he was angry-

_ Shh… I know you’ll do great. You’ve already agreed to do this. You’re just being immature. _

He was horrified, then a vision from last time entered his mind. He had agreed, he had agreed to kill the next person, and he had begun to plot what he was going to do.

_ Good boy. I will make it easy for you again. _

_ Now fly away _

He was dropped, frantically deploying his elytra a little too late as he hit the ground. Still panicking, he fired a ridiculous amount of rockets to try and escape from the robot. Anything to get away.

Somewhere, a man in all yellow amour hides in a bush, patiently watching.

  
  


~ * ~

  
  


_ <<stressmonster101>> is anyone in nether _

_ <<stressmonster101>> im at my blaze farm _

_ <<Xisuma>> no _

_ <<cubfan135>> Nope _

_ <<Grian>> no :) _

He placed his phone back into his pocket, sighing. The mansion was almost finished on the outside, the terracotta being the only thing holding him back. He didn’t want to go mining in the mesa again today, so Grian decided to take a break.

_ Go to the nether, now’s your time _

He stopped in his tracks, fear rooting him into place. It was the voice again, from Grumbot. He wanted him to go to the nether-

Oh.

Oh, that was what he wanted.

Grian felt numb, all of the pride from nearly finishing his build being washed out by apathy.

He was meant to kill Stress next.

What would happen if he didn’t? Would he still be alive? Grian thought through his options. He had two choices. The first was to defy Grumbot, and get everyone on the server killed because of his own selfish actions, and the second one was to slay StressMonster, and keep some hope for his servermates. He knew which one he had to choose. He was too far in.

_ “We just have to keep going, and never give up.”  _ He heard Scar’s voice say. Yeah, he just had to not give up. That was easy enough. Just keep going. Just don’t give up. Keep going. Don’t give up. Go. 

Grian stepped into the portal, feeling numb. He was on autopilot, controlled by a will for this to be all over. His expression was calm, deathly calm. This will all be over soon.

He knew where Stress’ Blaze farm was, since he once ran into it when looking for Tango’s, so he flew right on into the Nether Fortress.

Suddenly, Grian felt his emotions break free from his calm. 

Stop! 

STOP!

STOP IT!

THIS WON’T HELP!

A strange feeling of forced detachment washed over him. He was watching a shell of himself walk into Stress’ farm. No! He can’t draw his sword on his friends! Grian panicked, stuck watching himself barge through the iron door on the entrance.

He didn’t want this! Why was he stuck? Why was he not in control-

_ Who is in control… Grian? _

The agonizing echo of Grumbot’s voice taunted him, as he watched through a wall of apathy, unable to stop himself from moving.

“Grian? What are you doing here?” Stress asked, backing away from him, looking slightly scared and confused. Grian watched himself launch a harsh blow on the terrified player, unleashing a sickening amount of blood. He felt the impact, but couldn’t stop the swing of the sword.

“What is this? Some kind of sick prank?” Stress looked up at him through her own blood with an expression of someone who was terrified of dying. The look was so utterly soul wrenching, Grian somehow managed to break through the wall of apathy.

He had control! He could stop himself, he could save Stress! He quickly threw his sword onto the floor with utter hatred. His friend’s blood decorated the shiny blue surface.

“Run.” he screamed at Stress. She looked up at him, her own blood splattered over her face, “RUN! Get away from me as fast as you-”

He lost his voice, and then control. Grian had lost control.

But she still had a chance, right? He had told her to run.

Grian watched, sickened as Stress was hurled into the room full of Blaze. Her flesh melted, the look on her face enough to hurt even the most stony, cold heart. 

It crippled Grian. He had lost control. He had lost a friend. He had killed someone. It had happened again.

It took a full minute for Grian to realise that he had control now, frozen in place.

He flew away, smashing into several lumps of terrain, but still went on. He had no other choice. He had no choice. Rushing to get away, his haste had caused him to make a major mistake. One that might cost him.

It turns out that people will start to suspect things when they happen more than once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry not sorry.  
> See ya soon. Gonna sprint to the end with this one.


	5. Xisuma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is at their breaking point.  
> Xisuma is looking for an answer.  
> Grian is looking for a reason.  
> And someone is looking for Revenge...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww man this was fun. No death in this one, just some minor suicidal themes and some swearing. There is a major reveal in the end of this, so keep on reading! Also thank you all so much for the kind comments, they make my day! (:

Once again, the inhabitants of the server were gathered together at the foot of the town hall. Xisuma was one of the only ones standing up, expression calm and collected. The rest of the Hermits were huddling around each other; Cubfan holding Scar as he cried into his chest, Doc and Etho with their arms around each other’s shoulders, Bdubs leaning into Doc’s side, Joe quietly comforting Zombiecleo, Rendog crying next to Iskall who was staring straight ahead and had been since they got here, and finally Grian wrapped around Mumbo, with both of them sobbing unceremoniously. The rest of them were in similar positions, tears mixing with the rain.

It hardly ever rained on the server, and this felt like a completely appropriate time for rain. Grian had always loved the rain.

Everyone looked so tired. There was a hint of frustration, possibly even anger, but they were either hiding it very well or the exhaustion was doing that job for them.

Finally, Xisuma began to speak, “Did you find anything there, Joe and Doc?” his voice sounded so utterly broken and lined with self hatred, Grian felt the emotions from him, the guilt stabbing him.

“We found a sword.” Joe said softly.

“It was diamond and enchanted. Seemed pretty good.” Docm77 added.

Grian’s heart sunk. No, his heart fell. He had dropped his sword, hadn’t he? This was it, he was busted, he would have to face the wrath of his server-mates, fueled by two sudden deaths. His two murders, the people he killed.

It wasn’t his fault! He was only doing it for the hope of friends, they would all die if he didn’t-

_ You’ve got this. Just stay calm. _

Grian freaked out for a moment, still not used to the voice of Grumbot, but then managed somehow to rein in his emotions thanks to that strange detachment he was almost used to now. He was still in control, but just running on a kind of autopilot that allowed him to ignore his emotions.

He thought over the situation carefully, mind working in a cold, analytical way. They didn’t know who owned the sword, and it could’ve been Stress’. That was a reasonable lie.

“Was it… hers?” he asked gingerly, still wary of his own emotions.

Doc sat up, still holding onto Etho and BdoubleO, and cleared his throat, “It was sat with the blade facing into the Blaze spawner, which doesn’t make sense. It should have either been with the rest of her items that were inside the holding chamber for the Blaze or dropped with the blade facing away from the chamber. The sword itself...” Doc paled slightly as he started to speak again, then stopped, looking at Joe.

Joe took a long breath, then said, “The sword was covered in… her… And the floor too, as well as the walls… It was… bad.” His words needed no explanation. Everyone knew what he was talking about, and what it meant. Grian knew what they saw, he watched it happen. He saw the blade collide with Stress’ bloody face, he watched as pain, fear and fire consumed her, and he spectated himself throwing her into the group of Blaze- No, no stop it. He needed to stop thinking about that.

The rest of the Hermits looked horrified. Grian felt Mumbo tense up, since he didn’t deal well with blood or gore this was definitely hard for him to think about. 

Rendog stood up, anger flashing suddenly, “So you mean to tell me that some sick fucker killed her? One of the people here murdered one of our friends, and we’re all just sitting here having a friendly chat with the bastard?” Silence borne out of fear ruled the small group. Iskall was still as ever.

“Well yes-” Doc began.

“Let’s not assume that.” Xisuma said coldly, “Firstly, was anyone in the Nether?”

Cubfan decided to speak up, “No one was. She asked if anyone was in the Nether, and everyone online in the chat said no.”

The gathering was silent once more. Grian had stayed detached for the entire time, analysing each of the player’s reactions with careful studying, deciding to stay quiet like most of the others. 

After a short moment of nothing, Xisuma dismissed the group, “I’m going. I’ve got to find a solution to this.”

Mumbo let go of Grian and half-ran over to Iskall. He decided to follow his friend, since he had nothing better to do.

“Dude, are you good?” Mumbo asked gently, “Iskall…” Rendog moved out of the way, tears still muddling down his face, hair stuck to his cheeks. Grian felt ill, sweater completely drenched in water, lost in mountains of guilt. 

Iskall slumped forward, wrapping his arms around Mumbo’s side. His sobs could still be heard even though they were muffled by the suit, shameless and wracked in grief. 

“I know, I know.” Mumbo whispered, comforting him. They stayed like that for a while.

Meanwhile, Rendog was left with Grian, “Dude, are you good?” he asked, studying him. Grian had stayed too calm, hadn’t he? Ren was going to suspect something, maybe even realise what he did-

_ Please, stay calm Grian! Just keep a hold on your thoughts and you can get through this- _

_ Shut up _

_ You can do it!  _

_ Shut up! _

_ Keep going! _

The voice cut off. What in god's name happened there? Why was Grumbot arguing with himself? Grian felt less calm than before, staring straight at Rendog.

“I don’t think I am.” he said simply, letting his tears roll down his cheek in defeat. He found himself wrapped in a hug, both players sopping wet and lost in emotions of grief, self-hate, anger, confusion and apathy.

~ * ~

Finally, he is alone.

No one will interrupt him.

The man in all yellow amour stands tall on the concrete platform that houses the robot.

_ Why hello there, Admin _

The man in all yellow amour jumps at the sound of the voice, surprise briefly passes his expression, gone as soon as it appears, “Hello Grumbot.” he says.

_ What do you want? _

“I want to know the truth. What were you saying to Grian? Has it anything to do with the two murders that have happened recently? Because they both have something in common, that is, that they are both running for mayor. My guess is that you are manipulating Grian to kill the other candidates so you can achieve your goal.” The man wears a brave face, never once breaking terrifying eye contact with the AI. 

_ My goals? Do you know what my goals are? _

The man in all yellow amour steps back as the hands melt out of their shrugging position. He stumbles. “To make Mumbo mayor.”

A hand launches forward, trapping the man in it’s metal cage.

_ Wrong. _

The man in all yellow amour is thrown. He opens his masked eyes to find himself in a dingy room. A person stands in the corner, but it is too dark to see them. Pain ricochets through his body.

**_The admin._ **

**_Nice to meet you._ **

They extend an arm to the man in the armour, and he takes it with slight hesitation. He is dazed. “Who are you?” he asks, not even an attempt to hide the fear.

**_Just call me Silver._ **

~ * ~

Grian’s eyes snapped open. He panicked, not completely registering his surroundings, when he realised that Rendog was lying next to him. What had happened?

Mumbo and Iskall were also here, both asleep. Wait, Mumbo was asleep. Iskall was awake.

“Hey Grian.” he croaked.

“Hey dude.”

Silence. It was odd.

“What’s the time?” he asked Iskall.

Digging around in his pockets, he finally answered, “8:38. In the morning. We were asleep for like, 15 hours.”

“Think we needed it too.” he laughed, “Xisuma the most, but he insisted on going to find a solution. He should sleep, at least.”

Iskall’s expression dulled, “Yeah…”

The silence was painful.

“I need to go-”

“I’ve got things to do-”

They stared at each other for a short moment, then Grian flew off. He was free from people finally, and now he needed to think. So he took the long route back to his mansion, weaving through all the other Hermits’ bases. It was peaceful when he was flying, disconnected from the ground, from real life. Air was rushing through his hair, the thrilling feeling that he could never quite get used to. The weightlessness was liberating.

Finally back at his mansion, Grian took his usual seat on the top of the roof. It was a very long way down from here, if he fell he might die. He would definitely die without his armour.

He slipped his boots off, then his leggings. His Elytra was last after his helmet. Maybe if he went, then everything would fix itself. Maybe it would all get better, maybe he would find his friends from Evo…

_ Stop it! That won’t help! _

**_Get down._ **

Grumbot’s voice rang loud and clear in his foggy mind, demanding attention. It broke through the apathy that it had cultivated.

Grian sat down, head in his hands. What the hell was he thinking? Suicide wouldn’t help anyone, it would just press on all his friends even more. Maybe even pushing  _ them _ past their limit. He needed to stay strong for his friends.

~ * ~

_ <<Keralis1>>hey guys  _

_ <<Keralis1>>anyone seen xisuma _

_ <<Docm77>>nope _

_ <<renthedog>>No, sorry _

_ <<Grian>>isnt he in his tower _

_ <<Keralis1>>no.. _

_ <<renthedog>>thats odd _

Grian had a horrible feeling. A horrible feeling that Grumbot had something to do with this.

Xisuma was very observant and clever, and he had already seemed suspicious of him, so it was very likely that he had confronted Grumbot and had an… unfortunate experience.

He was straight over to the robot. No one needed anymore hesitation, especially from him. Hesitation is what gets people killed. He needed to find the admin as soon as possible. 

The robot flashed on as soon as he floated down to it, eyes lighting up and staring at him.

_ You want to know something. _

Grian steeled himself, “Yes. I need to know where Xisuma is, the server admin.” The robot flashed a bit in response, then anger settled on it’s artificial features. This was not good, he didn’t want to deal with an angry Grumbot this early in the morning.

_ I’m busy. The admin is busy with me.  _

The robot shut off, leaving Grian with a terrifying confirmation. It had the admin, the most powerful player on the server. If Grumbot had Xisuma, who knows what it could do. Grian could lose all his friends again, he might have to go back to  _ Them _ , he’s going to lose Mumbo, he’s going to lose his best friend, his long time friend, the person he  _ killed  _ for-

_ I would never do such a thing! _

The voice was mocking, sweet and dripping with vengeful sarcasm. Grian almost fell over, quickly equipping his Elytra to zip over to Mumbo’s base and say goodbye.

The wind hummed a melancholy tune through the jungle trees as Grian rode it to his friend’s base. Mumbo was placing leaves on the top of his base, unaware of the panic that was gripping Grian. He flew to the nearest ledge, “Mumbo!” he cried out.

Placing down a final leaf, he turned and glared at Grian, “I’m busy.”

“I need to talk with you, it’s urgent!” he shouted, panic frying his voice. What if the world goes now? What if Grumbot forces Xisuma to /kill someone? Or everyone? All of them are going to die, everyone will know that it was his fault, what if everyone is already dead and they were the only ones left? The only one…

Mumbo flew down and landed in front of him, “What is it now.”

“Oh, thank gods. I thought you were going to just ignore me.” Grian sighed in relief. The universe has finally decided to be nice to him, even if it was a small kindness, “I am so sorry, Mumbo. Sorry that I was a dick to you, sorry that this has to be my goodbye.” his tears were inevitable and constant. Mumbo had a look of pure confusion that slowly faded into fear.

“What do you mean? What have you done? Is it your fault that…” he trailed off, staring up at him with a look of fear and betrayal donning his face. He was figuring him out, oh gods, this was bad.

“It wasn’t my fault! Grumbot is the real villain here, he made me do the things. I wasn’t in control! I tried to stop myself but I wasn’t in control of myself!” Grian’s tone began to take on a manic tone, “He forced me, I didn’t want to, I wanted to stop, I am so sorry, sorry, sorry, I never wanted to, it was all Grumbot’s fault!”

Mumbo was silent, seemingly unable to reply to him. He had let go of his emotions again, he had told Mumbo everything, oh he was so screwed. Grian wrapped himself around his friend, trying to calm himself, attempting to have one last hug goodbye before it all turns to dust.

“You’re not about to… kill me?” Mumbo asked quietly, tentatively pushing him away. Grian shook his head without hesitation, of course he wasn’t going to kill Mumbo. 

“No, I would never. I’m not letting that darned robot near me ever again.” he snarled.

Mumbo sat there with a contemplative look on his face, “You’re saying it’s Grumbot’s fault, but that’s impossible.” he stated.

Grian had a bad feeling that something was wrong, that this was maybe much bigger than he ever considered it would be. The robot was perfectly nice until now, and it kept mentioning ‘revenge’ even though he couldn’t find any motive for revenge, there was also the arguing with itself that seemed rather odd, and the fact that it constantly contradicts itself…

“How is it impossible?”

Mumbo’s brow creased in an effort to find words, “It is… to do with him being an artificial intelligence. I’m almost certain that I… built in a system to… prevent accidents from happening.” 

He pondered on the vague answer, “What accidents?”

“Well I made sure that he would always be on our side, no matter what, and so that would prevent him from turning on us. So somehow that system got overridden, or destroyed, or something.” he explained, leaving Grian all the more confused as to how this happened.

Revenge…

Contradicting…

Motive…

Overridden…

Revenge…

Who wanted revenge?

Who would use Grumbot to seek revenge?

“Oh no…” Grian whispered, leaving Mumbo more scared and more confused, “I know who is behind all this…” this was bad, this was really bad, much worse that he ever thought, “Robot Grian.”

He shot off, firing an excessive amount of rockets, heading straight to check on a particular closet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I'm on holiday next week so sorry about the slow updates!   
> See ya later (:


	6. Silver

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scar has a chat with Grian.  
> Grian makes a mistake.  
> Silver has a chat with Grian.  
> Something goes wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohhhh my gods. This chapter...  
> Be prepared for plenty of heavy stuff in this one, lots of emotion.  
> Also sorry?

He ran down into his basement, heart drilling into his chest. Grian knew what had happened, he knew who was truly to blame for all of this. 

He stumbled down a flight of stairs, entering the part of his house that no one knew about, and flung open the closet door. Empty. 

He felt dizzy, the butterflies in his stomach tearing him apart. He was stuck, mind reeling over the possibilities this opened.

He sunk to his knees, feeling gravity pull him down, giving in to his own weakness. He was a murderer and a liar, a horrible human in anyone’s books.  _ They _ were right. He was the worst, most ungrateful, greediest and most problematic player in the universe. 

Maybe these are the last emotions he will ever feel before the world gets destroyed by Grumbot and Robot Grian. Maybe Hermitcraft is doomed because of him, or maybe this is all a game.

“G-man?”

He felt himself being pulled out of his misery, thanks to a single kind voice calling his name.

“Grian.” 

He attempted to stand up and meet the person, only to fall down thanks to the ever growing tiredness that gripped his very soul.

“Grian, are you okay?” Scar asked, lending a hand to the other player.

He stood up on his own, drawing strength from the kindness that resided in Scar’s tone, “I’m just fine.” he choked out.

Scar looked unimpressed, “You’re not fine. Do you wanna talk about it on your roof?” he smiled warmly. Grian couldn’t reciprocate the action, but he could appreciate it.

They flew to the top of his huge mansion, landing on the dark prismarine tiles. The day was slightly overcast and a gentle breeze that occasionally gave way to a stronger gust.

“Are you gonna tell me what’s up now?” Scar sighed.

Grian settled into place, mind still spinning from his new revelation. He had to say goodbye to Scar before the world dies.

“Scar… I… have to say goodbye to you.” he put his head in his hands, frustrated with his inability to think straight, “I’ve done some stupid things recently and I… need to know that you don’t hate me for it. If we do all die, I want to at least rest easy.”

Scar’s brows scrunched up, fear dominating his tone, “What do you mean? Is the whole… y’know… Your fault?” he squeaked, “Are you gonna…”

He sighed, trying with all the energy he had left to stay calm.

**_The last person now, Grian_ **

He jumped upon hearing the voice, what should have been Grumbot’s voice but also sounded far too familiar… 

Robot Grian.

He was in control.

“Grian? G-man, you good?”

**_Do it_ **

**_Push him_ **

**_It will be all over_ **

He stood up, feeling all emotions being pushed to the back of his mind. It will soon be all over. He will soon be free.

“Grian? You there?” 

Grian stood over Scar, feeling power and control. It was addicting. He grabbed the arm of the other player, dragging him towards the edge.

He was in control. He could feel, he could move. This was all his own actions.

“Grian? Please, please don’t tell me that you are the one who killed the others! I need to know it’s not your fault!” Scar tried to pull away from the deathly strong grip that he had initiated, to no avail.

He felt strong. Like Grumbot.

Emotions were irrelevant, as irrelevant as consequences. He was in control. He was in control. He was in con-

“This is not the Grian I know! Grian, I know you’re in there! Talk to me, please!” Scar screamed.

He was not in control.

“I’m so sorry Scar!” he shouted, feeling himself tear up as the guilt was brought back to the foreground of his mind, “This is not my fault! Fly away, please, I don’t know how long I can keep control!” he shouted, unsure of what was going on.

“Who’s fault is it, if not your own?” Scar asked, maybe a little calmer now.

Grian felt the guilt begin to crush him, suffocating him, “It’s Grumbot! It’s all his fault! Not me, I never meant to hurt anyone! Now I can’t tell the difference between my own emotions and ones enforced by Grumbot!” he let tears roll down his cheeks.

Scar climbed up over the edge and met Grian in a hug, “It’s okay now. I forgive you, since you didn’t mean to do anything.”

All of a sudden, the apathy washed over him as his emotions were tamed by Scar’s hug, losing control.

Scar tried to hold on to Grian’s sweater as he was thrown off of the edge.

<<GoodTimeWithScar fell from a high place>>

“ **Well done, Grian.** ” a voice said, clearly not human, but human enough to be uncanny. Grian felt his hope die, and control trickled back. He had done it again. He had tried to stop himself and he had failed miserably.

“Robot Grian.” he snarled.

A laugh escaped the robot, “ **Ha. Ha. Ha.** ” it turned to face him, “ **My name is now Silver. I refuse to be associated with you.** ”

Grian turned around, painfully slowly, to meet the grayscale figure that stood before him. It smiled, sickly sweet.

“ **You are such a good boy, Grian.** ” it said, ruffling a cold hand through his hair, “ **Such a good boy.** ”

He felt all the fury and frustration, all the sleepless nights, all the times he lost control of himself, all the pain, all the lies and deceit, and finally all the murder take a hold of him and force him to tear apart the being in front of him, “Why the fuck did you do all of this? Why manipulate several people to do something you could have done yourself?” he shouted, taking pleasure in the sudden fear in the robot’s expression, that passed quickly to give way to a mocking smile.

Silver laughed again, walking along the roof horizontally, “ **I couldn’t cause all the guilt and mess that you have. That is one of your specialities. Messing things up more than anyone else could.** ” it said, a mean and spiteful expression lining it’s features, but voice just as monotone as always.

Grian just stood there, emotions lost in themselves. He suddenly realised what Silver was doing. It obviously wanted revenge for what Grian had done, but using the mayoral run and Grumbot’s goal as a sly disguise for it’s plan was its way of getting him to kill people with a goal in mind. It didn’t care who he killed, just that he felt the immense guilt and regret that it was sure that Grian deserved.

“ **Oh, have you finally realised my true intentions?** ” it turned around and stopped pacing along the roof, “ **To cause you the regret and guilt you should have felt when you locked us away** !”

He was left with his head spinning round, trying to find the bad guy in this story. Grian was no longer innocent, far from it. Grumbot was no longer the bad guy, just another link in the chain of manipulation and revenge. Silver was just hurt and misled, and Grian was a murderer.

“ **Don’t forget about your favourite creation to lock away, NPG!** ” smiled the robot.

Wait, he was involved? NPC Grian was his first creation, made to build rustic houses when he didn’t feel like doing anything, ending up being obsessed with building rustic houses. The NPC had been locked away for a while now, probably about… 2 years. That would be why things have gone wrong.

Grian put his head in his hands, feeling the regret overcome him. He had done so much wrong, he had got away with doing so much wrong, and now his punishment that he so truly deserves.

“ **Are you feeling bad yet? Are you wishing I was never made? Are you wishing that you had treated us better?** ” it said, slowly descending into manicness, “ **You should! You should have felt bad two years ago! You should have known!** ”

He felt all of the robot's words strike him directly in his soul, instantly accepting them as true. The weight of the truth was enough to cripple anyone, and more than enough to make Grian drop to his knees. Tears rolled off of his nose and he curled up onto the ground, feeling the emotions as a weight heavier than gravity.

“ **There is no one else to blame for this, this is all your fault. All of the death is all because of you!** ” it said cruelly.

Grian felt a little, tiny strength return to him. A reassurance to help him say a small phrase through the crippling emotion.

“Who is in control… Grian?” he repeated the phrase that Grumbot had said to him a while ago, “Isn’t that what you said?”

The robot went from manic babbling to silence so quickly, he thought it might cause whiplash.

It’s expression morphed into one of gruesome horror. Silver had finally realised that no one was innocent. No one except the people that had died.

“ **I killed them. I was the one who took control and killed them. Without me they would still be alive. I am the killer.** ” it murmured, with just a little too much emotion in its voice, “ **It wasn’t Grian’s fault… it was all mine, all mine, I caused this mess, I am just as bad. I need to feel the regret that I deserve. I need to feel the guilt.** ” The volume crept up with every plea, driving tears to fall down the light grey cheeks of the robot. 

Who is the real bad guy? Everyone had done so much wrong, made so many stupid mistakes, and even more stupid decisions.

“Can we try to fix this?” Grian asked quietly after the muttering of Silver had dried up.

A silence fell over the two grieving individuals.

“ **I can try.** ” Silver said, giving Grian a smile that seemed genuinely compassionate and free of any mocking hate that seemed to dominate his past smiles.

~ * ~

The man in all yellow armour sits in the dingy room that he hasn’t left for what felt like days. Silver had left for a while, leaving him all alone with his thoughts.

Those thoughts are mostly to do with Grian and Grumbot. And the death message that recently came up in chat.

Grian has killed Scar. That is what has happened, he is sure of it.

A person is walking into his room, footsteps too light to be Silver. The person is a little shorter than Silver, around the same height as Grian.

“HELLO.” they say, voice only just robotic, sounding completely human if you didn’t think about.

The man in the yellow armour speaks in a broken tone, “Hi.” he says, simply.

A silence lays thick between the two.

“I NEED A FAVOUR.” they ask. After a moment, the man stands up to tower above the other person. They speak again, “I NEED TO FIND A PLAYER.”

The man furrows his brows, “How am I meant to help you do that?” he croaks.

They smile, “I JUST NEED YOU.” his smile is too wide.

“What?” the man asks, confused.

They walk towards him, pulling his helmet off, unleashing a head of caramel brown hair and a pair of dull yellow eyes, “YOU.”

In a sudden second, there is now only one person standing in the dingy room. The man in all yellow smiles wide as they put on the helmet.

~ * ~

Grian tried to initiate some kind of small talk as he retrieved a pair of elytra and some armour for Silver, but his attempts at casualness were in vain. The weight of the situation was too much to just brush off for some comforting small talk.

“Are we ready to go and rescue Xisuma?” Grian asked Silver, to which they nodded in response. The weather outside was overcast with darker clouds than he thought there were, the wind picking up slightly. There was an air of anticipation. It did nothing to calm Grian’s nerves.

They took the short flight over to the shopping district, Silver still shaky with the new wings.

They landed in front of Grumbot, both still silent. 

Once Grian had pushed the first few buttons to power on Grumbot, the robot turned on, eyes ten times more expressive than he ever thought they could be. It looked scared and relieved at the same time.

_ HELLO GRIAN, SILVER. THANK GODS YOU CAME. SOMETHING HAS GONE WRONG. _

It spoke, voice crackling and spluttering. 

They shared a look. What had happened? Has yet another thing gone wrong?

“What went wrong, Grumbot?” he asked, worry lining his voice.

_ THE NPC TOOK THE ADMIN. I DON’T KNOW WERE, BUT HIS INTENTIONS WERE BAD. _

Grian paled. This meant that NPC Grian had all the power, power that could destroy or create a server, power to kill.

“Do you know what NPC Grian would want?” he asked Silver, fear bubbling up to the surface.

They swallowed deeply, “ **They were deeply set on the idea of revenge. Even worse than me. They just had no idea how.** ”

Grian had a fear. A fear greater than any other fear that he had ever had. He knew what NPC was doing. He knew what revenge entailed. 

“Silver, we have to go to Mumbo’s base. Right now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry! I didn't want to hurt Scar! aaaaaaaaaaaa  
> also i have the end fully planned out and i just wanna say  
> i am so sorry  
> for the pain  
> i have  
> caused.


	7. The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally.  
> Everything comes crashing down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow. I am so glad I did this. but like, be prepared.  
> for mega death.  
> lmao.  
> I have spent so many hours on this.  
> So thank you for sticking with me!  
> Also yes I wrote this in one day I wanted to get it out. lol. So not beta-ed lol.

The two, once enemies, now make a quick alliance to beat the true antagonist and put all their past grudges behind them. Grian and Silver fly in a deafening silence to the huge stone structure in Mumbo’s base, through the black clouds and wind that whistled through his hair.

“ **I’m so sorry for the things I made you do.** ” Silver said quietly as they flew. Grian immediately wanted to deny it, to say that they should be sorry, but he knew better than that. To make things better, first he had to start being a better person. 

“I… yeah, me too. I’m sorry for the shit I did.” he cringed at his awkwardness, “I think if you can forgive me, then I should be able to forgive you. I wasted two years of your life by locking you up in a cupboard, and you forced me to murder three of my friends.” he tried a smile, but it ended up probably more like a grimace.

“ **I think that’s fine for now.** ” Silver said simply as they landed down next to the entrance to Mumbo’s base. The huge stone arches and tall Nether portals set the mood pretty well.

“WHY HELLO THERE.” a voice echoed around the arches.

A spot of rain hit Grian on his nose just as the voice spoke. It was familiar, but odd. It was like NPC Grian was speaking, but also trying to impersonate someone else. 

Xisuma walked out of the top layer, and off of the balcony. Only instead of falling, or gliding down, they just hovered there, “HELLO GRIAN.” they spoke, “HELLO SILVER.” they spat with betrayal and disappointment.

“ **NPC. What a coincidence seeing you here.** ” Silver spat back.

Somehow, NPC had control of Xisuma, and now, since X was the admin, they had creative mode. Grian knew exactly how Xisuma felt outside himself, without control. Remembering what Scar had said to him to get him out of his trance, he shouted, “Xisuma! I know you’re in there, please, just talk to me!” Silver gave him an unimpressed look.

NPC smiled too wide, “DO YOU WANT YOUR FRIEND BACK?” he somehow smiled wider, closing his eyes slowly, then in a flash of thunder and lightning that seemed just too convenient to be natural, Xisuma dropped to the floor, leaving NPC wearing all yellow armour, and Xisuma in his black undershirt, black leggings and black socks. He looked bruised and tired, crumpling to the floor and not moving.

Grian ran over to him, panicking, “Are you okay? Xisuma?!” the silence he got in reply was worrying, but thankfully it only lasted a while.

“I hope…” he croaked, “...that things can… be fixed.” he sighed deeply, closing his dull yellow eyes and relaxing the grimace on his face.

_ <<Xisuma died>> _

Grian watched as the body disappeared, leaving no items behind. The odd death message faded away and left Grian alone in his agony. This was his fault, wasn’t it? If he had done something better two years ago, then this would have been prevented.

“FAILURE. MISTAKE. IDIOT. STUPID.” NPC listed, “THAT IS WHAT YOU TOLD ME AS YOU LOCKED ME UP IN A CLOSET. AND LEFT ME THERE.” All of the emotions he thought he had exhausted jumped right back in to torment him, pulling his sanity apart slowly. But somehow, he found a small strength, through all this. 

Grian could still fix this. He could make this better. 

“YOU LOCKED SILVER AWAY AS WELL, DIDN’T YOU?” NPC smiled, “WHY AREN’T YOU STILL ON MY SIDE, SILVER? DON’T YOU WANT JUSTICE TO BE SERVED?” 

They took a deep breath, then stared up at the levitating robot, “ **Justice is on our side. Grian knows what he did wrong, and now I know what I did wrong.** ” 

Grian took a wide stance, looking up at NPC. He had to know one thing, there was one person who was on his mind right now, “Where is Mumbo?” he asked, voice strong. Thunder rolled out along the server, lightning illuminating NPC’s face in cold light. The rain started up, a light drizzle, hardly noticeable inside the stone temple.

“I’M NOT READY FOR HIM YET. JUST BE PATIENT.” the robot waved a dismissive hand in his direction, not once looking at him. The storm roared in the distance, not ready yet, but brewing up to cascade chaos over the server. It had been brewing for years, waiting for the right excuse to rain down it’s guilt, pain and regret.

“NOW. GRIAN. WHO’S FAULT IS IT THAT FALSESYMMETRY DIED?” NPC asked smugly, looking down at him from their high up perch in the air, “IF YOU ANSWER WRONG, I WILL PUNISH YOU.”

What were they doing? Why was NPC asking him questions? 

Grian thought for a while. He wanted to try and answer right, since the idea of a punishment did not sit well with him. He calmed his mind, trying to find that place between full consciousness and dissociation. He may have been the one who pushed her, but Silver, NPC and possibly Grumbot were also involved. So that would be the right answer. Him, Silver, NPC and Grumbot.

“Is it me, Silver, NPC and Grumbot?” he asked, tentatively. The anger in their eyes flared to life, denying his answer and deeming it wrong.

“IT WAS YOU. YOUR FAULT.” he said, as if it were the undeniable truth, “NOW FOR YOUR PUNISHMENT.”

_ <<Tango died>> _

Grian gasped, feeling the fear strike him right in his heart. He was breathless for a moment. Was his punishment NPC slash-killing one of his friends? It was scary how used to death he was. How disconnected from the loss of friends he truly was. Maybe he had become desensitized to the loss of his best companions, it seemed to happen a lot.

“NEXT QUESTION.” 

Silver shifted from foot to foot, their face a mask of emotionlessness. Grian was still sitting where Xisuma had been, until he stood up to face the hovering robot. He felt the dreaded apathy drag him down, telling him to sit down and give up.

A gust of wind brought driving rain into the temple. The water was heavier than earlier, slashing down onto the three.

“HOW MANY SERVERS HAVE YOU DESTROYED?” they smiled, taking pleasure in the rush of memories from Evo that ran into Grian’s mind like a torrent of bittersweet regret.

He took longer to think about this one. The answer he would have liked was zero, but NPC seemed to want to torture him, so maybe the answer was one? He had only destroyed one server, right?

“One?” He spoke quietly.

This seemed to anger NPC even more, causing them to ball up their fists by their side.

_ <<impulseSV died>> _

He tried to keep the emotion inside, not giving NPC the satisfaction of a reaction. This seemed to anger him more, apparently. 

_ <<BdoubleO100 died>> _

_ <<cubfan135 died>> _

_ <<ZombieCleo died>> _

_ <<joehillssays died>> _

This wasn’t good. This was really bad. They could have a little temper tantrum, and that could be all they needed to kill off four of his friends. He felt dizzy, no longer able to stand up, falling to the floor. Thankfully, Silver caught him and sat him down somewhat gracefully.

“TWO.” smiled NPC, content with the reaction from him, “NEXT QUESTION.” they floated down to meet him around a metre above him.

Grian almost threw up, wanting to punch the figure in front of him, but they were a little too far away, a little too high up.

“DO YOU WANT THIS STACK OF DIAMOND BLOCKS?” 

That was an odd question. Grian knew the answer to this one, since diamonds were as good as useless now. Who’s going to care if he stole from the rocket shop? He choked up a few pointless tears.

Finally, he spoke, “No.” his voice was weak and slightly shaky. The rain was coming down hard enough to hurt, the wind strong enough to gently sway the huge stone temple they were inside.

_ <<Keralis1 died>> _

_ <<Etho died>> _

_ <<Docm77 died>> _

_ <<iJevin died>> _

_ <<Zedaph died>> _

_ <<VintageBeef died>> _

The death messages seemed meaningless. Grian stayed and sat down, silently crying for his friends. At least Mumbo and Iskall were still alive. But he didn’t think they would be for very long.

“OF COURSE YOU WANT THEM. YOU ARE INFINITELY GREEDY. YOU ALWAYS WANT, WANT, WANT.” Grian cringed at the words, realising the truth in them. That reminded him of someone…

_ Them.  _

He panicked, looking around for masks and purple wings, as the lilac colour, that sickly lilac colour, bled into his vision, painting everything in the Watcher’s colours as the rain lashed down in huge drops that drove hard and pooled inside the temple.

He was dying, he thought. This was it.

“Grian? Grian, is that you?” a painfully familiar voice shouted, “It’s me, Mumbo, your friend!”

He looked up, draining the purple away, to see his best friend in a glass cage next to NPC. It was Mumbo. Mumbo was okay.

“Mumbo…” he rasped, feeling Silver trying to sit him back up.

Finally, Silver spoke up to NPC, “You are going to kill him!” he shouted, “Can’t you see how much pain he is in? You are just as bad, if not worse, than him.” 

NPC didn’t hesitate to speak to him again, ignoring them, “GRIAN. TELL HIM WHAT YOU DID.” they smiled smugly, gesturing to Mumbo.

He felt so tired. Maybe he didn’t have the strength to carry on…

“It’s okay Grian. I will forgive you.” Mumbo spoke, voice gentle and calm in the midst of the raging storm that seemed to be only getting worse.

_ <<Welsknight died>> _

_ <<Tinfoilchef died>> _

Grian gritted his teeth, drawing up whatever strength he could as his friends dropped dead around him and his server died because of him.

“I killed False. And Stress. And Scar.” he spat, giving in to NPC’s game. The robot smiled cruelly, finally getting what he wanted.

Mumbo’s calming expression dropped, betrayal decorated with fear coating his features, “Did you? Really?” 

“No! I was forced by them! Silver and NPC were the ones who took control of me!” he screamed, wishing to tell Mumbo everything that happened, wishing nothing had ever happened.

_ <<xBCrafted died>> _

_ <<hypnotized died>> _

“SHUT UP. YOU KNOW WHO’S FAULT IT WAS. STOP BEING SELFISH.” they growled, fists bunched by their sides.

Silver looked furious. Their strong sense of justice was paying off now, right when it really mattered, “ **You are the truly selfish one, NPC. I know I did similar things, but at least I am regretful and have realised the pain I have caused. You are the one who is causing unnecessary pain to innocent players. You need to stop, now. This could destroy the server.** ”

They laughed.

Then they picked up the robot, holding them with some invisible force that none of them would ever understand.

“I’M SORRY. IT’S GRIAN’S FAULT HE DIDN’T GIVE ME ANY MORALS.” he smiled, bitterly sarcastic. Silver was crushed, and Grian just watched as his friend, to enemy, back to friend again was reduced to some metal on the floor. Thunder rumbled as their wires spilled out onto the floor, lightning striking the top of the tower and shaking it. Grian wouldn’t have been surprised if some of the temple had fallen off. Stone crumbled down and landed on the hill that surrounded them.

Silence filled the room. He was well and truly on his own.

“SPEAK.”

Silence.

_ <<Renthedog died>> _

“SPEAK.” 

Grian panicked. There weren’t very many players left. He had to try. 

A cough escaped him as he tried to speak.

“PATHETIC.”

Iskall appeared in front of Mumbo. He looked terrified and soaking wet, “What has even happened?” he asked painfully.

Thunder crashed, the rain giving way to hail. It was unwavering and unforgiving, littering the stone floor with tiny balls of ice, and leaving little stinging spots on Grian’s skin.

NPC smiled wickedly, “GRIAN. YOU TELL HIM. HE DESERVES TO KNOW.”

He tried to speak, but nothing came except a few wheezy coughs. The pain of grief and loss was strangling him, and Grian was ready to die.

Iskall was dropped, then picked up again. His face was red and looked as if it was going to bleed. Following another silence, Iskall was dropped into a fire, then burnt for a while. Grian tried even harder to talk, now coughing violently. 

Iskall was crushed under an anvil.

Grian threw up. Finally, he had a clear throat.

“Stop! Stop it, stop hurting him! You can hurt me as much as you like, just leave my friends alone!” he screamed, voice thin and fried. It was just like Evo. 

He was the one responsible for someone else’s hateful actions, and they felt that second hand pain was worse than first hand. It was true. 

NPC laughed at his pleas, poisoning Iskall with a splash potion.

_ <<iskall85 died>> _

Grian wretched, no longer able to throw up anything. Mumbo had curled up into a small ball in his cage, unable to look at the torture, but it was immpossible to look away.

They were the only ones left.

Grian’s head spun, and he curled into a foetal position. This was it. This was the last thing he would ever see, the last rain he would ever feel.

His life flashed before his eyes, memories that should have been comforting felt bittersweet, like Evo. It all felt distant, unreal, now.

“GET UP GRIAN.”

“I WILL KILL YOUR FRIEND.”

  
  


Was it even worth trying?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not sorry.  
> Please tell me how much of a horrible human being I am in the comments, I appreciate it.
> 
> (ps there will be an epilogue after this since ya know, I didn't want to end it like this.)


	8. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things get addressed. The story wraps up into a neat little package, loose ends tying themselves together in knots.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh My Lord. It's done!!!! :D  
> Anyway, this chapter should wrap up the story, but do let me know if I missed anything.  
> Also, this story is up on Wattpad as well! (or will be very soon) So if you wanna see some art by me/maybe some friends then head over to my Wattpad account (under the same name) and check if I finally published it!  
> Big thanks to Myka and the Weirdo Gang, you guys are amazing! <333

Xisuma lied in bed, mind drifting away to forbidden memories. Since the world was reset, the server had finally been in survival mode, instead of hardcore. 

His eyes closed, drifting out of consciousness. Images of Grian and Silver on the floor terrified clouded his mind. Without any control, he taunted them then, the screams of Iskall, the cries of Grian and Mumbo as they finally died, played on a sickening repeat.

He put his head in his hands, and sat up. He could usually just sleep, but today his mind had other ideas.

He had to talk to Grian.

The flight was short and cold, a fresh night indeed. The stars were out and they were bright. In this world, he and Grian were quite close neighbours, so the flight didn’t even take a minute. The cute country cottage that Grian had as his starter base appeared on the horizon, nestled in a beautifully terraformed hill, the skill he had told Xisuma that he was going to develop this season. 

He knocked gently on the door, waiting until a figure appeared at the door. He was dressed in some blue shorts and a t-shirt, his trademark red sweater absent.

“Xisuma? What are you doing here, at this time?” he asked, voice breaking from sleep. He gestured for him to come in.

Xisuma slipped into the small bungalow, “I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about last week.”

Grian swallowed deeply, the idea of talking about the accident obviously troubling him, “Okay… yeah, I can’t really, well, sleep either.” he stuttered.

There was a tense silence as they stood in the small, homey cottage.

“Where should I sit?” he asked quietly.

Grian jumped out of his thoughts, launching into a string of nervous speech, “I- maybe… no… do you wanna, um, chill- sit on the, urm, couch?” Ever since the accident, Grian had been tense and scared all of the time, especially around people who were involved directly in the incident. He hadn’t even talked to Scar. Who knew what went through the poor man’s head.

Most of the Hermits were a lot more jumpy, especially those who were some of the first that NPC killed, then watched the torture that Iskall, Mumbo and Grian were subjected to. False was the least affected out of the candidates in terms of mental health, but she was also the least forgiving. Being in spectator mode, she saw everything that happened. The grief channeled into anger, mostly for Grian. 

“We can sit on the couch.” he said calmly.

Stress was more forgiving, but she still held a grudge and was obviously impacted by the incident. She wouldn’t go anywhere near the Nether Fortresses now, and spent any time in the Nether that wasn’t travelling in tunnels with either Iskall or Ren. They were both amazing friends, helping Stress and the others through all of their troubles, and also vice versa. Iskall was struggling more, though. He kept having flashbacks to his slow and painful death, but Ren and the others tended to be able to help him through those. 

Scar, Mumbo and Grian had sealed themselves away from help, hiding in their starter bases. Scar had been jittery and jumpy all the time, but not at all angry at Grian, at least outwardly. Mumbo had probably shouldered some kind of blame, like Xisuma had, although Grian had held most of the blame. 

They settled onto the huge couch that filled most of the large living room. It looked as if Bdubs had decorated the room, it was so full of life. But the kind and homely atmosphere wasn’t enough to chase away the overwhelming cold that their silence generated.

“I keep seeing the end. I just can’t get it out of my head.” he said bluntly, watching Grian’s reaction with care. He looked lost in his thoughts, eyes drifting gently around the room.

Finally, he spoke, “Same. I- You know… um…” Grian struggled for words, sitting up straight and rigid on the couch, “It’s not something I can process yet.” he sighed, his voice taking on an enforced calm that Xisuma could empathise with.

“We need to talk to people about this. It’s not helping anyone to process this when we just pretend it hasn’t happened.” he said calmly. Grian seemed to consider this idea, emotions flashing over his face in a suppressed dance of pain.

“Who would we talk to?” he asked, the same calm only wavering slightly.

Xisuma took a moment to consider this. It wouldn’t be the best of ideas to have all Hermits in the chat, since some players tend to just stay silent in large group gatherings. So he needed to pick out the players who needed to chat the most. The first that came to his mind were Grian, him, Mumbo, Scar and False. All of them would do better with some kind of clarity on this incident, and soon. It was like a virus, the pain echoing off of the loneliness, festering in the hearts of the weary Hermits, only beatable by addressing its existence. 

Him and Grian slowly came to an agreement that all of them should chat tomorrow, then add in Stress, Iskall and Ren, then the rest of the crew.

~ //*// ~

Four tired, frustrated, nervous and guilty Hermits gathered in a living room. The time was 11am, and the weather was fine, if not a little too hot. Grian was once again leaning on him, like he always does when he’s nervous. False sat opposite, and Xisuma adjacent to her. They were all waiting on Scar.

“He’s five minutes late.” False stated, anger lingering in her tone. The tense atmosphere was suffocating.

Finally, Scar stumbled through the door, a sorry state. His hair was a mess, shirt crumpled and jacket half on. He carried his hat, golden carrots and some rockets, struggling to put his hat on without dropping them. In the end, he ended up firing several rockets into the air, propelling him forward into the back wall of the living room, promptly killing him. His inventory was spread around the floor and couches.

Mumbo looked out in shock, feeling Grian tense up beside him. The tension was short-lasted, the room erupting into giggles, even Grian chuckling along with him. It felt nice, to finally be free of the last world’s inconveniences. 

Scar arrived, grumbling in pseudo frustration, “That wasn’t what I meant to do!” he laughed gently, looking around the room at all the Hermits and their reactions for any sign of negative emotions. The initial tension had mostly dissipated, leaving only fear and nervousness. 

Mumbo could feel Grian tense up next to him.

“Now that we are all here, should we begin the meeting?” Xisuma said calmly, “Grian? Do you want to start?”

Grian cleared his throat, sitting up a little taller, “Yeah, I will.” he looked over to Mumbo and gave him a look of determination tempered by anxiety, “I owe you all an explanation. To an incident that was caused by my own actions.”

The solemn faces of all of the players in the room stared back.

“If I’m going to tell you this, I should tell you from the beginning. It all started around four years ago.” Now this piqued the interest of the Hermits. A story was always interesting, and Grian was a very fun storyteller.

“I made an NPC. They were meant to help me build, but they ended up being obsessed with rustic houses. I let them build houses rather often, actually. They were pretty decent at it, to be honest. But rustic houses got boring pretty quickly, while creating robots didn’t. I created another one, the one you all know as Silver. They would help me with the competitions that I needed to participate in, but didn’t want to. And it worked, surprisingly well. That was when-” Grian’s sentence dropped off, fear and some kind of frustratingly complex pain flashing on his face. He was silent for a moment too long.

“You good dude?” Mumbo asked tentatively, “It’s okay if you need a break.”

The determination returned, slightly more fragile, but still strong, “I’ve already told Scar some of this. It’s to do with my… old world.” Everyone turned to look at Scar, who nodded slightly.

“He told me one night up on his roof, before any of this stuff began. He was looking kind of sad so I went to see what was wrong. He ended up telling me about this strange server he had been on.” Scar sighed, “So are you going to tell them, Grian?”

“I will tell you everything.” he answered. Mumbo felt concern swirl up inside of him, convinced that this was something greater than just another server. If that was true, then what had happened to his friend? Just why does he always panic about so much? Who is Grian?

“We called the server ‘Evolution’, or Evo for short, because it very frequently updated in the oddest ways. We used to get clues, often broken nether portals, always in this same pattern. We knew it wasn’t player made thanks to the bedrock that seemed to show up everywhere.” As Grian revealed the details of his old server, Mumbo’s concern grew. The idea of having some kind of higher beings on a server seemed unsettling, in the least. “The clues got harder, more complicated the further we progressed, the more They wanted to control us. Me the most. See, I didn’t like being told I couldn’t do something, I was even more immature back then, I was known as the guy who would happily blow up part of your base if you got on the wrong side of him. So when They made a statue out of clay, which I was using to build my base, of course I stole it. Which They did not like. So They put obsidian on my chests! It took ages to get it off, since we had no enchantments back then.” Grian’s calm began to dissolve, hatred for these ruler things taking over.

Mumbo wrapped an arm around him, holding him close, hoping to ward away all of those feelings, “It’s okay now, Grian.” he said simply.

Grian breathed deep, looking out at the captivated faces of all the players in the room, “They called Themselves… The Watchers.” The disdain was tangible. It lingered in the air like a bad smell, infecting all of the clear air.

“I never used to take Them seriously, acting as if I were above consequences since I was the admin of the server. That was all fine until the day everyone met together to fight the Ender Dragon. We were split up once we finally went into the portal, and I defeated the Dragon on my own.” Grian took a long, deep breath. He sounded detached and oddly calm when he began, a stark contrast to his usually captivating and emotion provoking story telling style, “Instead of the end credits scene, I was transported to this End style island with a tower similar to the towers They made across the overworld, purple and decorated with opulent materials like obsidian and bedrock. That was where I… met... Them.” He blinked a few tears out of his eyes and Mumbo felt him shudder beside him. His heart began to beat faster, scared for what these ruler people would do to his friend.

The room was silent, all players left on the edge of their seat, waiting.

“They first welcomed me. Then They gave me one of their masks. They asked if I wanted to become a Watcher. Being my childish past self, I agreed, greedy for a power greater than what I could even fathom.

“You know what they say. If something is too good to be true, then it probably is. And it was. I wasn’t anywhere near as powerful as I wanted to be, in fact, I had just sold myself to Them. That was Their plan all along, to finally beat the defiance out of me.” He spat, hatred oozing with every word. Mumbo was speechless, his lungs void of all air and his mouth void of all words to say. 

“They made me watch all of my friends slowly go crazy over my disappearance, until finally They… They…” Grian’s face scrunched up, grief and long festering hate breaking free after years of being suppressed, “They killed them all! Everyone, all in front of me, all in my name, all as painfully as They could! The cruel fucking beings laughed as I cried, laughed as all of my friends died, laughed as my reality slowly crumbled into despair and hatred, laughed as I tried to escape!” He turned to the sky, shouting with a manic edge, “YOU’RE NOT LAUGHING ANYMORE, ARE YOU!?!” Grian crumpled up against him, sobbing out his soul, gripping tightly onto the sides of his suit. 

The rest of the players in the room were shell shocked; Scar was crying silently, False and Xisuma looked slightly scared and very concerned.

Grian took about five minutes of crying to calm down enough to talk. His voice was weak and shaky, his eyes red and puffy and the determination was stronger than ever.

Mumbo gently asked Grian if he wanted to continue, his answer being a yes.

“That was when I flew out of there. I tore that damned mask off of my face and flew for all I was worth, over the void, for what felt like days. Then finally, after flying for too long, I arrived in Hermitcraft. Tired, hungry and still grieving, I took out my anger on my NPC, locking them up in a closet, as well as leaving Robot Gria- Silver in a similar position. I forgot about them, pushing my past to the back of my mind, hoping that I could somehow forget it. Obviously, my mistakes came back to bite.” The room somehow went even more silent, the Hermits finally understanding the truth of Grian’s past. Mumbo just felt ill. He had felt much more protective of his friend after Grian told him of the atrocities that Grumbot, or Silver, committed against him. So hearing all this made him feel almost guilty for not being there, even though he couldn’t have. 

“I’m so sorry.” He said, wrapping Grian in a hug that Scar joined after a moment. False and Xisuma sat there awkwardly for a moment, before X crossed to the couch Mumbo was sat on and joined in. For a moment, False almost let her anger get the better of her, then she joined in on the hug, letting the tears flow freely like everyone else.

~ //*// ~

“...and then they killed me and Mumbo. Which sent us and all of the guys spectating to this world.” Grian finally finished retelling the horrors of the hardcore world, sighing deeply.

The time was 1:19pm, the weather was certainly too hot and the sun much too bright. But the weight that had been lifted from Grian’s soul felt like the sun burning through the fog of depression and despair, the exact fog he had been stumbling around in for so many years, so maybe the weather was appropriate.

“Wow…” Scar breathed, “How did you hide your feelings over all that time?” he said in awe. Grian thought back to the last world, remembering the numbness and detachment he felt constantly, whenever he wasn’t being shaken by the overwhelming grief and fear. He shivered at the thought of it. 

“I kind of… blocked out all feelings. Like I was watching myself from afar.” he tried his best to put the feeling to words, but he wasn’t an eloquent speaker, especially when he was this emotionally and mentally tired.

Mumbo was still holding him close, with an arm wrapped around his shoulder, and Grian wasn’t complaining. He hadn’t spoken to Mumbo since the worlds switched, and he was so glad that the man didn’t resent him for his foolish actions.

It was Xisuma’s turn to question him, and this time it was a much more thought provoking one, “Why did Silver change their mind so quickly? Why didn’t they hold on to any of the hate?” 

Grian let the question turn over in his mind for a moment before answering, “I think it has to do with the fact I gave them a strong sense of justice, since I didn’t want them to cheat on the games and leave a black mark on my name. They don’t have any pride to tarnish, and will always lean towards the fairest conclusion. Which is why they wanted to cause me pain for what I did to NPC and them, but didn’t agree with NPC when it came to destroying the server and causing the Hermits so much pain.” he finished, quite impressed with his little speech. Xisuma seemed satisfied as well, nodding his masked head. Grian found it rather annoying that he couldn’t see X’s reactions as well as he could have, thanks to the helmet that he constantly wore.

The questions trailed off into amiable small talk, until Xisuma announced the meeting a success, and over. 

He walked out with Mumbo still close to his side, an air of protectiveness in his expression, and Scar ambling along next to Mumbo. False and Xisuma left afterwards, but Grian couldn’t care less about what they could have said in his absence. 

“Good golly gosh, it really is a scorcher today!” Mumbo exclaimed, pulling off his jacket and wiping some sweat off of his forehead. Him and Scar hummed in agreement, “Do you wanna chill out in my ice base?” Mumbo offered. To be honest, that sounded like heaven to him. Grian smiled, accepting the offer to go to his friend’s base. 

This season, Mumbo had chosen an ice spikes biome to live in. He had never done such a thing, or anything similar. The cute little ice cave that was his starter base was already getting full up with random chests and shulkers, making for a rather cramped room.

“Sorry for the mess…” Mumbo sighed, leading Grian and Scar through the chaos and into a smaller, but slightly cleaner room.

He laughed, “It’s okay, Mumbo, Scar’s base is probably worse. In fact, both of our bases are probably worse…” the other Hermits chuckled, friendly banter filling what would have been painful silence.

After a while, Mumbo’s expression went somber. They had just been joking about how Iskall could add a mustache to anything, examples including, but not limited to; any kind of plant, Xisuma’s office, Grian, a tree, a bathroom mirror and maybe a t-shirt.

“I think we need some closure.” Mumbo said, tone serious and almost sad, “The real reason I brought you here is because I think we all need to know that we forgive each other, Grian especially.” he turned to face him. 

Grian did need to know. He constantly worries about how much of the friendliness they were faking, how much they actually wish he was never there, and how much they hated him.

“Grian. I truly, genuinely hold nothing against you. You are my friend, no matter what you have done in bursts of emotion and confusion. Whatever you did in the past, is in the past.” Scar said, emerald green eyes meeting with his, the softest of expressions on his face. 

Mumbo gently picked up his friends hands, holding them in his, and said in a tone so full of love and care it almost broke Grian, “You are one of the kindest, most caring and generous people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. I don’t care if you made a few naff decisions, I don’t care if you aren’t absolutely perfect, because I’m not. We’ve all done some cruddy things, but no matter how cruddy you were in the past, Grian, you are my best friends and I will love you, mistakes and all.” That was enough to break him down into crying. Scar was already sobbing into Grian’s sweater, so what was another player shedding a few tears?

They curled into the second group hug of the day, staying there long enough to feel relaxed again. He was so tired, but not exhausted. Instead of feeling empty in his heart, like he usually does, a warm feeling pooled in his soul.

Hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, if I missed anything, or you have any questions, I love to read all of the comments and will often always reply to you!  
> Bye!  
> <3

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this fic please consider letting me know and leaving kudos on this work! If I messed up or you have some way I can improve, don't be afraid to let me know with some constructive criticism. Please comment, they are literally a writers life support! Anyway that's it!  
> Bye!  
> -Joe


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